Of Friends and Money
by Raive S. Reign
Summary: Roxas meets Sora at an airport, and they become fast friends and more . But what happens to them, to everyone, when Roxas stumbles upon 200,000 dollars? Yaoi. Rated M for mild language, lemon, underage use of alcohol, and wild parties in later chapters.
1. Saved from Grey

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Kingdom Hearts (as of yet.).

Yes, this is a yaoi fic. Don't like? Don't read.

**Pairings**: Sora/Roxas, Axel/Demyx, Larxene/OC, Roxas/OC...that's all I have planned (for now, at least).

Thank you Bubbles for giving me this plot. I couldn't have done it without you. And of course you'll get your own character. Now, on with the story!

* * *

_I hate this_, Roxas thought. Sitting in a horribly uncomfortable black leather chair, one of about two dozen set in a row, Roxas sighed. He hated waiting in airports.

And here he was, stuck in Atlanta for a flight that wouldn't start boarding for another three hours.

Roxas frowned at the book he had tried to read. He held it in his hands, leaving forward and sitting with his elbows on his thighs. The joker card that was illustrated on the cover grinned up at the boy, then laughed at his plight. Roxas's frown deepened, and he stuffed the book into his carry-on bag. The joker's laughter quieted to an occasional snicker**. (1)**

Roxas looked at the watch on his left wrist. The hands of the watch moved as if they were made of lead; the second hand crawled around the clock face at an annoyingly burdened pace.

"Flight 247 is now boarding at Gate 7. Flight 247 is now boarding at Gate 7." The voice on the intercom was monotonous, barely rising over the sounds of bustling people going every which way, intent on living their lives.

Resting his chin in his hands, Roxas watched the busy people rush by, their heels and sneakers and flip-flops clattering uproariously against the tiled floor. Different faces, clothes, colours, and races all hurried to their desired destinations, taking no notice of the blond boy sitting in a chair across from the bathrooms at Gate 4.

He groaned and checked his watch again. 12:36 its hands read. Roxas then shifted to pull his plain ticket and itinerary out of his back pocket. He stared at the digits that followed the 'Departure Time' column.

Atlanta to Miami: Approx. 3:45 pm.

Roxas sighed again.

Checking his watch yet again, it informed him that a minute has passed.

"Lovely."

Roxas stared into the moving oblivion again. When that got boring (which it did within two minutes), Roxas decided to take a nap. He pulled a small pillow out of his overstuffed bag, having a bit of a tangle with his iPod headphones. Luckily, the armrests folded up into the seats, _probably for mothers and babies, _Roxas thought.

Relatively satisfied, he threw his pillow into the next seat over and laid down, struggling to find a comfortable position. Finding one, he again consulted his watch.

12:41 pm.

He glared at it and set the alarm for 3:15, though he figured he'd be awake long before then.

_If I ever _get _to sleep..._

He closed his eyes, on hand closed on the itinerary, the other clutched tightly on a handle of his carry-on. After a while, all the sounds of the airport began to melt together into one incessant buzz. Then that faded, and Roxas slept.

* * *

_It was as if someone had turned the colour knob on reality all the way down._

_Everything was grey scale, but...no. Not everything. A pinprick of yellow light flickered somewhere ahead like a beacon. It was here that Roxas began to make his way towards. He pushed through the crowed of people, all of them shades of grey. Their steps made no sound; all was silent save the slap of Roxas's shoes against concrete._

_The light seemed to shrink away from him, and Roxas broke into a run, desperation strangely heightening with every step._

_And then he was upon it._

_It was a burning car._

_There was still no sound. Part of Roxas knew that he should the roar of the flames or the creak of the car losing its metal or his own _breathing; _but there was nothing._

_Reluctantly curious, Roxas circled the edge of the car's light, stopping in front of the car to view the passengers inside._

_His breath caught. Tears began to form in his eyes._

_Inside the care were his parents, their faces distorted by their muted screams. Frantically, his father tried to force open the door in vain. His mother kept on screaming._

_Roxas was mortified. He turned to his left and right, uncomprehendingly looking at the faceless grey people that still shuffled lazily about beyond the edge of the burning car's light._

_"Why doesn't anyone do something?!" he shouted at them, his voice stopping the silence for all but a moment._

_The crowd bustled on, unhearing. Roxas shouted again, but with the same results._

_Tears streaming down his face, he turned back to his burning parents caught in a flaming deathtrap._

_His father's face was downcast, flinching at the heat occasionally. He'd given up all hope. His mother was now pointing straight at Roxas, a look of pure horror painted on her face. His father looked up, his look piercing Roxas as that same horror manifested in his face. The soundless pain they displayed was unnervingly real._

_Roxas looked down. A line of fire had branched itself to him. His eyes widened with terror; his mother stood agape to scream, but the forbidden sound was strangled by grey._

_His brain refused to function; hi could only stare blankly at the yellow and orange conflagration as it burned his shoes and started to lick up his pants. He didn't feel it, nor smell it, nor _hear _it, but it petrified him nonetheless._

_Suddenly, he was spun around and shaken violently. A man held him by his shoulders with a hat and badge to signify him as a policeman._

_The policeman was as grey as the rest of the world. His face was almost nonexistent: no eyes, or nose, just smooth skin where they were supposed to be. He had a mouth, though. And when he spoke, glorious sound came out._

_"Oy! Wake up, will ya? You're gonna miss the flight..."_

_The grey started to dim into black. Before the darkness completely descended, he felt the ground shake, and someone hugged him and turned him around. Then, darkness._

_

* * *

_

Roxas was slow to wake up. Gradually the sounds of a typical airport began to amass in his ears, but above that was a voice that kept telling him to get up.

"Come _on! _Gods, no one wakes up this slow!" Exasperation was creeping into the voice. Roxas groaned and let out a meek, "What?" without opening his eyes.

"I said _get up!_" The voice was rough now. Hands pulled Roxas into a sitting position. His eyes snapped open, though he immediately regretted it. Light and colours filled his eyes at once, and he nearly cried out in pain.

His eyes still closed, he felt around for his pillow, there, and his carry on, here. Ticket? Ticket! He panicked, his hands searching fruitlessly for his plane ticket.

"Calm down, uhh..." the voice paused, "Roxas." The voice held out the 's' sound for a fraction of a second. Eventually the pain in his eyes subsided, and Roxas cracked them open.

Before him stood a boy, his age or a little older, with his arms crossed and tapping his foot impatiently. His eyes were strikingly blue, and his brownish hair stuck out at all angles, though more toward the right side than the left. He cocked his head to the side and asked, "You awake yet?"

Roxas yawned, quickly covering his mouth. Then he looked around. To his horror, he turned around in his seat to see that people were already boarding the plane. The line was getting smaller by the second.

"Shit!" Roxas jumped onto his feet just as his watch started beeping berserkly. He paused and turned the alarm off.

3:50 pm.

Inwardly, Roxas smiled at the thought of his watch going off every five minutes, and how insanely annoying it must have been. Even so, he stuffed his pillow into his carry-on, zipped it up, then hauled it over his shoulder and started heading to the gate.

"Thanks," he said over his shoulder.

Then realization hit him.

"My ticket!" Roxas exclaimed. He turned around, and there was that same kid, holding his plane ticket and itinerary in his extended hand, a slightly amused look on his face.

"You dropped this," he said.

Roxas grabbed the ticket as fast as possible without snatching it. He looked at it, and everything seemed to be in order.

"You gonna just stand there and stare at it, or are you gonna use it? I'm sure the plane's leaving soon, and I can't get by you," the other boy informed him.

Roxas was a bit distracted by the sudden loss of time. "Uhh...yeah." He continued to the desk beside the gate.

"Ticket, please," the lady said. She had black hair and far too much makeup. She wore the standard airport uniform, black shoes, grey skirt, and grey vest over a white blouse whose buttons strained to connect around her breasts. She took the ticket Roxas offered to her and ran it over a scanner. After waiting for a confirming _beep_, she flashed him a practiced smile, and said, "Thank you."

Roxas smiled back and continued through the passageway onto the plane. Boarding the airplane, he saw that most of the seats had been taken. There were two seats near the back, though, that weren't occupied, one a window seat, the other right next to it. Roxas smiled at his luck. He moved through the slim aisle, speaking a repeated "Excuse me" and "Sorry". Finally he got to the empty seats. Sighing, he dropped his bag onto the floor and kicked it to the wall. Satisfied, he sat down and stared out the window, watching the other planes go about their business, small people driving carts full of suitcases, and people make their way around the monstrous devices.

An annoyed grunt made Roxas turn around. And there was that same boy again, pushing his luggage under the chair beside Roxas. Roxas watched him warily as he flopped down into the seat and turned to him.

The boy's thin lips formed into a smile as they stared at each other. "Your eyes..." he started.

"...are just like mine." Roxas finished.

They both blinked, then laughed. "So, you're Roxas, right?" the boy asked when the laughter died.

"How'd you know that?"

"Your ticket," he answered.

"Oh...yeah. Who're you?"

"Sora." Sora replied. "The name's Sora."

* * *

**(1)-** An allusion to Markus Zusak's "I am the Messenger," which I don't own. 'Twas a good book though. (Damn, you have to disclaim _everything..._) 

First off, thanks for reading. Secondly, I hope you liked it! More chapters to come, hopefully.

I find it mildly funny that I wrote all of this in a day. I'm pretty proud of myself. Sore demo, of course there'll be more..._interesting _things in later chapter(s), (Have _you _ever had sex on a plane? Trust me, it's more than a little complic), so I'll start writing the next one now. I'm in a state of writer's bliss right now, so I need to write while I can before I get shut in with writer's block.

Don't you want to review it? Ya know you wanna click that little button down there that says 'Go'. You know you do.

**_--Raive_**


	2. The Note

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, Sora, Roxas, or any of them. Nor Apple (maker of the iPod), nor any of the songs mentioned here. Or Sprite. Or the poem 'I'm Nobody! Who are you?' Emily Dickinson does.

And, I apologize in advance for any spelling and grammatical errors. It looks right to me, and Bubbles, but somewhere between here and posting it, something's probably gonna get screwed up.

Now that that's over...

* * *

"So..." Roxas found the situation a bit uncomfortable, but decided it would be best to start up a conversation. It was an odd sight indeed; the two of them looked remarkably similar. "...what are you going to Miami for?"

Sora smiled slightly and looked ahead. "My parents divorced when I was nine. Dad left, and I stayed with mom. Last month, she died, so now I'm being whisked off to Miami to live with my dad." His smile disappeared for a moment, then he turned and looked at Roxas, asking, "What're you going there for?"

Roxas tried to put some cheer into his voice, but found none. "Both mom and dad died in a car crash a few weeks ago, so I'm being sent to live with my cousins." He frowned.

The dark-haired boy smiled at this. "What? You don't like your cousins?"

Roxas sighed, thinking about the house he was going to. "Not really. My cousin Axel is okay. We get along. Larxene...she's complicated. A senior this year, so no doubt this next month will be hell." His frown deepened. He really hated going there, though his parents dragged him down to the southern end of Florida every summer. He liked hanging out with Axel, but Larxene was always too busy with parties and friends and other popular things that no one had bothered to notice him. _Except when she picks on me. That's always fun._

Sora let out a thoughtful "Huh," and leaned back some in his seat. A few moments passed, then he leaned forward again and asked Roxas, "Okay. How the _hell _do you get your hair like that?"

Roxas grinned at the mention of his blond hair, which strangely flowed to the right and up. "I don't know; I just wake up and it's like that. I don't know why, but it does. A lot of people ask me that..." He had to admit it. He was enjoying the attention.

"Chea, with good reason. Even my hair needs a little gel every now and --" Sora was interrupted by the pilot speaking on the intercom, rambling about typical admonitions.

Finally, the pilot shut up, and the plane took off. After a few minutes, a flight attendant told everyone that they could turn on their electronic devices. Greatly relieved, Sora pulled his iPod out of his pocket and put on of the earphones in his left ear. The other he offered to Roxas.

Roxas hesitated, then took it. Placing it in his right ear, J. Holiday began singing of how he wanted to put someone to bed.

**Wanna put my fingers through your hair  
Wrap me up in your legs  
And love you 'til your eyes roll back  
I'm tryin' to put you to bed, bed, bed  
I'ma put you to bed, bed, bed  
Then I'ma rock your body  
Turn you over...**

Roxas looked over at Sora, who was looking forward, his head bobbing slightly to the music. He had a good profile, his sharp nose set above his pinkish lips perfectly. Roxas suddenly felt a strange attraction towards the other boy, stricken by that abnormal hormone that accompanies adolescence. The one that lusts for sex.

_Yeah, right. Sex with a guy. Not going to happen, _he thought. _Not in this lifetime._

When 'Bed' went off, Fergie started singing 'Clumsy', then Pretty Ricky's 'Love like honey'.

As the songs began and ended, a distracted Roxas stared obliviously out the window. Huge clouds towered around and above them, white giants that stood nearly immobile in the sky. The ground below him, when he could see it, was patched in varying shades of green, with a long strip of grey to occasionally separate them. Small things traveled up and down them, not much larger than ants. Though he'd flown before, Roxas was always amazed by how the world looked from an airplane. _Is this how the gods see the world? _he wondered.

So enveloped in the realm below him that he didn't hear Sora calling him. Finally, Sora got more than a little annoyed with being ignored and paused the music. Roxas took no notice. Scowling, Sora scrolled though his playlist until he found a loud rock song, turned the volume all the way up, then pressed the play button.

Roxas nearly yelped as the chords were struck, slamming his eardrum with sound. He yanked the earphone out of his ear, and Sora turned the music down, sent into a fit of hysterics. He tried to stay quiet, and mildly succeeded, but looking at Roxas's face full of mixed anger and confusion.

In truth, Roxas was furious. _Who is he to play a trick on me?! _Roxas thought viciously. He took a few deep breaths and tried to calm himself down. Eventually, Sora came down from his laughter. Roxas stared at him menacingly, blue eyes ablaze. Sora tried not to smile, but failed. Instead, he tried to be consoling.

"Hey, hey. I'm sorry. I just...got bored."

"'Hmm...I'm bored, so let me blow this kid's eardrum! Yeah, that sounds like fun to me!'" Roxas retorted sardonically.

Sora frowned. "It's not my fault you weren't paying attention to me."

Roxas took on a face that didn't understand his words. "Paying attention to you? Hello? We just met. Unless you've forgotten the past, what? Twenty minutes?"

Their neighbors shot them annoyed glances, but they didn't care. A man coughed into his fist, but it went unnoticed. Roxas stared into Sora's intensely blue eyes, and was perplexed by them as they seemed to calm him down.

Sora put up his hands in defense. "Okay, okay. I'm sorry. My bad." He looked a bit hurt. Roxas sighed.

"I'm sorry too." Roxas said. "I've been a bit...edgy lately."

Sora smiled at him, guile playing lightly across his lips. "Maybe I could help you with that." His smile widened, revealing a row of white teeth.

Roxas gave him a quizzical look, but before he could ask, another flight attendant with a writing pad and pencil in hand stooped a little towards them and asked if they'd like a drink.

"Are they free?" Roxas asked immediately. Sora coughed out a chuckle.

"Yes, they are." The smiling flight attendant replied. Roxas noticed that her gold nameplate read 'Angie'. Her short blond hair was pulled back into a simple ponytail, with a couple of loose strands hanging around her pale face.

"Well then, do you have ginger ale?" Roxas asked.

Angie smiled warmly. "Yep. That what you want?"

Roxas nodded shyly. Angie scribbled on her pad in response.

"Okay." She turned to Sora. "And you, sir?"

Sora's eyebrow twitched. "I'll have a Sprite, please."

She wrote again. "So, a ginger ale," Angie flicked the eraser end of the pencil in Roxas's direction, "and a Sprite."

"Yep." They answered in perfect unison.

Angie's brows furrowed for a moment, then resumed its smiling composure. "Okay, thank you." Angie moved on to the people sitting behind them.

"No, thank you," the two boys replied, their voices blending again. Angie paused as if she were about to turn around, but instead proceeded to asked the newlyweds their desired drinks.

Sora turned to Roxas. "Okay, you've _got _to stop that."

Roxas smiled slyly. "Stop what?" He asked innocently.

"Stop saying what I'm saying when I'm saying it."

"Was I saying what you were saying, or were _you _saying what _I _was saying when _I _was saying it?" Roxas quipped.

Sora rolled his eyes. "Oh, shut up," he said jokingly.

Roxas laughed. Then, he stopped remembering. "What were you saying about the 'I could help you with that' thing?"

Sora seemed to not have heard him. "You have any paper?"

Bewildered, Roxas reached down and opened his black duffle carry-on, then pulled out a binder and a red pen. He handed them both over to Sora, then zipped up his bag.

Sora leafed through the pages of Roxas's binder, flipping each page with his middle finger. Roxas felt a little uneasy with someone going through his personal binder, but suppressed the feeling. "So you like poetry?" Sora asked at the abundance of printed pages full of poems by various poets.

Roxas smiled. "Yeah, what gave it away?"

Sora shrugged and continued looking through the poems, lingering on each just long enough to read the title. "Ahh, here we go," he said when he reached the end and was presented with a clean sheet of loose-leaf, lined paper. He started writing on it, but when Roxas shifted to try and read it, he closed the binder, smiling.

"You can't read it yet. It's a secret." That sly smile was back. Roxas crossed his arms and mock-pouted with a "Fine."

Sora poked his side, gaining a small giggle from Roxas.

_Did I just giggle?! I hate when people poke me!_

"You'll see. Eventually." Sora went back to writing. And Roxas went back to staring out the window of the plane.

After about five minutes, Sora ripped the paper out of the rings that held it in place, and folded the note a few times. He closed the binder and stood, stretching. Roxas Setting the binder down in his seat, the folded note on top of it, he said, "I'm going to the bathroom." In a more quiet voice, he added, "You can read it now."

Then he turned into the aisle and went to the bathroom.

Roxas watched him for a moment, his lambent eyes following Sora's brown locks. Then they turned to the note. He reached a hand out and took it, then opened it up. Inside were a few words surrounded by a mass of swirls and designs. The words read:

Meet me in the bathroom, and maybe I could help you with that edgy problem.

A heart was sketched below the words, and Roxas stared at it.

_Couldn't be...could it?_

Hormones raging, Roxas folded the note back up. He glanced over at where Sora had put it down, where it had covered the first stanza of Roxas's favourite poem that he had slid into the see-through flap of the binder's front.

He was instantly reminded of the poem as he stood and headed towards the bathroom.

The door was unlocked.

The poem raced through his mind as he opened the door a bit first, then more.

**I'm Nobody! Who are you?  
Are you--Nobody--Too?  
Then there's a pair of us?  
Don't tell! they'd advertise--you know!**

Roxas smiled.


	3. Pheromones

Oy, I'm sorry about that last chapter. I hadn't originally intended for it to end that way; I had actually planned on putting this first part of this chapter into _that_ chapter, but I ran up on 1800 words before I had realized it. And I didn't want anyone to get bored sitting there reading...2500 words or so. Or maybe that's just me and my laziness trying to find an excuse. Oh well. Typical stuff first: 

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, or its characters. I don't own that line from 'I'm Nobody! Who are You?' by Emily Dickinson. And I don't know if there's actually an Azford Airlines, but if there is, I don't own that, either.

**A/N:** The first part of this chapter was _not _written for people to get off on. If you want to/can, go for it. It just wasn't the intention.

Thank you RoxasTheOther, LITTLE ALEXANDER UZUMAKI, and tebrighteyes for reviewing. Because I'd probably have stopped by now with no reviews.

Now then. (Wanna skip the sex scene? Scroll down to the horizontal bar thing after this one.)

* * *

You could practically smell the pheromones.

Roxas had walked in to find Sora sitting on the sink of the exceedingly cramped bathroom. A typical airplane bathroom, with just enough space to move from the sink to the toilet and back again. A small mirror hung lonely above the sink. Roxas looked at Sora quizzically as he shut and locked the door behind him. Sora just smiled at him, his blue eyes luminescent in the dull light.

"Still want help?" Sora had asked, cocking his head to the left. The ends of his bizarrely-fashioned hair brushed against the ceiling of the bathroom. He spread his legs a bit, holding on to the edge of the sink counter. A suggestive eyebrow shot up, accompanied by a lustful smile.

Roxas was already getting hard. "This is so wrong," he had replied. In response, Sora reached out and grabbed the blond boy by his shirt collar, and pulled him in close, so that Roxas's face was buried in Sora's neck. "But it feels _so _right," Sora had whispered. "Doesn't it?"

Roxas had answered in a series of kisses. He had only had sex once before, with a girl named Amber, but it he had never really considered it anything special. But this? He didn't want it to stop.

_Damn! He tastes so good..._

Soon they had unclothed each other, barely parting long enough to do so. Their hands explored the other body, feeling and touching, scratching in moments of intense passion. Roxas was still stroking Sora's skin, which was slightly more tanned than Roxas's, when Sora began to nip and kiss down Roxas's body hard, threatening to leave marks. He made a point of biting and toying with the blonde's nipples. Then, he took Roxas into his mouth.

Sora delighted in Roxas's shudder when he started sucking. Roxas tried to have endurance and not give it up too soon, but Sora had one _hell _of a muscled mouth. Before long, Sora had Roxas biting his lip and letting out quiet moans. Soon after that, Roxas was bucking, still trying to resist.

He had spilled his seed without warning, his mouth held open to a few quavering breaths escape. Sora, who hadn't swallowed the mouthful, let his tongue guide him back up to Roxas's neck. Trails of semen designed his abdomen and chest, and when Sora pushed himself against Roxas in a rough kiss, the sticky mixture of seed and sweat stuck to them both.

Sora had then sat on the edge of the sink again, his legs spread wide. Roxas took the hint. Sora told him that a condom was in his pants pocket. The eroticism was temporarily suspended as Roxas tried to find the right pair of pants. In the meantime, Sora had discovered the soap dispenser, and was moaning softly as he prepared his entrance for Roxas.

Finally, Roxas found it. By this time, Sora had three fingers of his left hand moving in and out of him. After putting the condom on, Roxas pulled Sora's hand away, then he had asked if Sora was ready.

"Damn straight," was his answer. "Come on, Roxy. Take a load off. Fuck me."

Roxas smiled at his new nickname, then pushed himself into Sora a little. He let out a small gasp. Roxas slowly began to thrust his shaft further and further into Sora, until his length was almost fully in. Sora leaned backwards, finding support in the mirror. His grunts of pain soon gave way to moans of pleasure, and he had to work hard to keep them quiet. His nails scratched Roxas as he continued to push, leaning in to kiss Sora.

The boy was nearly mindless with delectation. He accidentally bit Roxas's tongue as it searched his mouth, but Roxas didn't withdraw. Instead, his thrusts became faster, causing Sora to arch his back and grit his teeth over another suppressed. His left hand wrapped itself around his own length, rubbing it to the rhythm of Roxas's drives into him. The soap left in his hand began to work itself into a sticky white lather.

Their hot bodies pressed together, Sora wrapped his legs around Roxas's waist, Roxas resigned to nipping and biting the other's neck, his tongue exploring the flesh exposed as Sora threw back his head in a wave of ecstasy. Heavy breaths filled the air, along with the sucking sound Roxas's lips made against Sora's skin and an occasional soft moan from Sora. Roxas's pumping motion became more driven, his thrusts going deeper and harder than before.

Sora hit his climax, his shaft releasing semen onto his chest and stomach. He panted, still impaled by Roxas. Sora turned over, a problematic but rewarding feat, on the sink. His knees supported him, and his every breath succeeded further obscuring the long-fogged mirror. Hands pressed against the wall, he pushed and pulled himself against Roxas, who was beginning to divulge a series of increasingly loud moans. He came again, his seed caught by the rubber barrier that encompassed his length.

They stayed that way for a moment, spooning, Roxas draped heavily on Sora, his breath moving strands of the boy's brown hair softly.

* * *

**(A/N: Okay! You can come back now! Furthermore, in actuality, there isn't supposed to be a big bar thing right there; it's just for those of you who don't want to read all of that. See? I'm on top of it...wow. Bad cliché to use there. Anyway...)**

"Passengers, this is your pilot." His voice resonated through the tiny bathroom, threatening to give them both a headache. "We will be landing shortly. We hope you had a pleasant flight--" Here Roxas and Sora exchanged prurient smirks. "--and thank you for choosing Azford Airlines."

They didn't move. The feeling of each of their bodies pressed on the other made them want to never move, never part, but..

A moment of realization dawned on Roxas.

_The plane is landing..._

"Shit! The plane is landing!" He quickly withdrew from Sora, causing the boy to let out a small yelp.

Sora spun around again on the sink with a small degree of difficulty. "What was that for?" he demanded as Roxas scrambled to find his pair of socks.

Roxas paused. "Uhh...the plane is landing." He said it as if the purpose of his actions were obvious.

"So?"

"So...we've been in here for, like, over an hour." Roxas held two socks up, shook his head, then threw one of them down.

Sora watched him bend over and shuffle through the mess of clothes at his feet. Successful at last, he sat down on the heap of clothes and put on his socks. The metal buckle of his pair of shorts was cool against his bare skin.

With his socks on, he groped and found a pair of boxers. He pulled those on without a second thought, then followed with his shorts.

Sora just continued to watch Roxas, rocking slightly on the sink. He began to hum softly, an odd, melodious tune that aroused a bit of Roxas's curiosity.

"What song is that?" Roxas asked as he pulled his black shirt over his head.

Sora stopped humming and hopped off of the sink, beginning to collect his own clothes, a complicated task in a severely limited area. He stood with his own socks and shrugged. "My mom used to sing it to me, I remember that. I can't remember the words, though."

"Huh." Roxas squeezed past Sora, who took the liberty of pinching his arse.

Roxas sucked his teeth, followed by a soft "Ay, papi." **(A/N: Inside joke there.)**

Sora chuckled, then picked up the only other pair of boxers. "Umm...these aren't mine." He raised an eyebrow and displayed them.

Roxas smirked, his cheeks gaining colour. "Sorry," he said sheepishly.

Sora grinned and mumbled something about people stealing his underwear, pulling them on anyway.

Meanwhile, Roxas rubbed a fist against the fogged mirror. No avail. The mirror stubbornly held on to the condensation, inhibiting Roxas to check his hair.

He sighed and slid on his shoes.

"Okay, I'm done," Roxas announced as Sora began pulling on his jeans.

"Fine. I'll be out in a sec."

Roxas grunted, smiling. "Okay then." He turned the handle of the bathroom door, changing the indicator's position from 'Occupied' to 'Available', and pushed open the door.

The air was far cooler than it was in the bathroom. The sudden change in temperature gave Roxas goose bumps **(A/N: That was always an odd phrase to me...)**. The indicator clicked back to 'Occupied' as soon as Roxas closed the door behind him.

At the sound of the bathroom door opening, quite a few people turned around in their seats to make sure their ears had not deceived them. At least half a dozen of them stood. All of them glared openly at Roxas.

He felt incredibly awkward, but he didn't want them to be too disappointed. "Uhh...there's still someone in there," he said, embarrassment making his voice sound weak. A great deal of groaning followed, with a heightened intensity of glaring and swearing.

Somehow, though, he felt inclined to smile. By the time he had made his way to his own seat, it had developed into a full grin. He collapsed into his seat, his mind going over all that had happened in the past hour or so. He glanced out the window. They were just touching ground, causing the plane to lurch a bit. He imagined Roxas being slammed into the wall, shirt still halfway on, and tried to stifle a laugh with a relative degree of success.

This earned a hateful glance from the man across the aisle. Roxas didn't care, though. _He probably doesn't get enough, _he thought, smiling wide.

Finally, after a few minutes, Sora emerged from the bathroom, hopelessly trying to arrange his hair into its usual fashion. The brown locks fought back, rebellion causing them to stick out in complete disarray. Two people nearly raced for the bathrooms, pushing Sora to the side (and nearly onto a poor elderly lady) in their hurry to go to the bathroom. One won. One lost, who proceeded to spew a succession of curses so vulgar it would have made a sailor giggle.

Sora, making it back to his seat, picked up the binder, and the note, that had been left there and sat. They stared at each other, Roxas and Sora, and smiled.

There, in that exact moment in time, nothing could have pulled them apart.

Seconds later, the flight attendants announced that they could disembark. A relieved sigh rose in the plane, and people began to grab their things from the storage spaces above their heads and from under their seats. Sora handed Roxas his binder, the note tucked inside the see-through flap, the red pen stuck beside it. Then he stood up, glanced at Roxas, and began making his way off the plane. He didn't say anything. He didn't have to.

Roxas knew Sora would wait for him.

Roxas looked down on his binder as he himself stood to go.

**Then there's a pair of us?**

He smiled. _A pair of us, _he mentally confirmed was he moved to the aisle and got off of the plane. Unknowingly, caught up in thoughts of Sora, he'd forgotten his black duffle bag, lying forlornly under a seat.


	4. This isn't my bag

First of all, I'd like to dedicate this chapter to the woman who allowed me to borrow her pencil at the park, when I'd walked the entire two miles to get there, only to find that I'd brought my Notebook of Bad (in which I write everything) and my Binder of False Hopes, but not my favourite pencil. Yes, I name my things. Make's it more sentimental and personal. Nevertheless, thank you ever so much. 

I feel so ashamed. I almost made Axel an ass, then I found a video of Roxas and Axel sitting on the Clock Tower, eating sea-salt ice cream ('cause I've yet to finish the game. Hand-eye coordination isn't on of my strong suits. I can type though!), and I felt all sad and guilty. So I dumped more antagonism onto Larxene...Okay. Now that I've got that off of my chest: chapter-starting horizontal line, here we come.

Here you go, Bubbles. Larxene.

Disclaimer: I do not own...wait. Do I have to go through this _every _chapter? Can't I just compile a list and put it in the first chapter? Maybe I should be careful anyway. I don't own Kingdom Hearts, including Roxas and Sora.

* * *

The sounds of Miami International met Roxas's ears long before he got to the gate entrance.

Sora had waited for him, just as he'd thought, right outside the plane door. Sora slung his carry-on over his shoulder, and just as they'd began to walk away, a voice called to them.

"Hey! You two!"

They turned. Sora raised an eyebrow at the voice.

It was Angie. The rebel strands of hair that had gathered around her face had recruited more members. Her arms were crossed, and she leaned against the doorway, halfway on and off the plane.

"I suggest you guys not do that again. We've got some serious complaints on our hands." Her voice was serious, but a knowing smile betrayed her tone.

Roxas blushed; Sora covered part of his face with his hand and looked at the ground.

Angie chuckled and disappeared back into the plane. When she was gone, Sora looked up. "That...was embarrassing."

"Definitely," Roxas agreed.

They made their way out into the airport proper, the clamour of the place nearly explosive as they passed the crowd of people waiting to board the plane they just left. Roxas stopped and looked around.

"Where to?" he asked.

Sora shrugged. "Baggage claim, I guess." He jerked a finger in the direction of a sign that indicated the path to the baggage claim area. Roxas walked toward it, Sora in tow.

They followed the signs, which took them through a crowd of summer tourists and down an escalator, until they got there. Finding the right belt, they stood beside it, waiting for the luggage to start rolling out. Sora dropped his bag on the floor and put his hands in his pockets. Roxas, his binder in one hand, pulled a stick of gum out of his pocket and started chewing it. Silence grew between them as they recounted the events of the past few hours. The blonde shivered as he thought of what he'd done with Sora, but part of him was unsure that it was the right thing to do.

_It all happened so fast...but it happened. Can't take it back now. Maybe coming to _ _Miami__ isn't all that bad..._

His thoughts were shattered by a familiar voice that sliced through the usual din of the airport like a cleaver.

"There he is," it said. The voice was female, and clearly annoyed.

"Oh great. Here we go," Roxas said aloud, more to himself than anyone. Sora shot him a questioning look, but Roxas looked to his left. There, two people pushed through the crowd that gathered at the baggage claim area; one blonde, like Roxas, but a girl, the other was a boy with astonishingly spikey red hair. They both came to stand in front of Roxas, sizing him up.

The red-head broke the silence. "Roxas!" He exclaimed, a huge grin on his face. He stepped forward and hugged Roxas, who was nearly an entire head shorter than Axel, then held him by the shoulders. "Well, you look..." He paused, searching for a word. "...tired."

Roxas laughed and shrugged off Axel's hands. "I am," he said. "How've you been?"

"Ehh, whatever." He leaned forward and whispered, "Larx is about to drive me insane, of course."

Roxas looked over at his other cousin. Despite his annoyance with her condescending demeanor, he always thought that Larxene had the body of a goddess. He knew it was wrong to think that way, but she had the same green eyes as Axel, set below perfectly arched eyebrows. Her hair was short but beautiful; it was, as always, smoothed back, with two tendrils of blonde that were forever detached from the rest. She had thin lips that held a frown, hiding perfectly straight teeth and a gorgeous smile. Flawless, alabaster skin held together her perfect body, with its full breasts and matchless curvature. She wore tight blue jeans and a grey shirt that proclaimed in black letters, 'No, I _don't _give a crap.'

All of these thoughts flashed through Roxas's mind, and he smiled. Her frown deepened.

"What?" She spat the question at him. Roxas, used to this, acted appalled.

"Well, that was mean. I haven't seen you in a couple months, and I can't even look at you now?" He put on a hurt face. Axel turned away, smiling, and Larxene just rolled her eyes.

Sora stood, completely forgotten, in silence. **(A/N: Aww...poor thing.)**

"How long is this going to take? I've got things to do," Larxene said.

Roxas shrugged. "I don't know. Whenever I get my bags," he responded. "Oh damn..." He remembered his black duffle bag, and how he didn't have it.

"What?" Axel asked.

Roxas looked at the binder in his hand, then closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. "My bag. My carry-on. I left it on the plane."

"Ouch."

"You _idiot,_" Larxene declared, throwing her arms up in exasperation. "I swear, you can't even fly on a plane without screwing something up. No wonder your parents died. They probably killed themselves, living with you."

Roxas stared at her. Her words crawled into his mind and stayed there, festering and repeating themselves, over and over.

He opened his mouth, but no sound came. Speechless, he closed it and tried to block out what she had just said.

_No wonder you parents died. They probably killed themselves, living with you._

"Umm..." Another voice interjected his spiraling thoughts. It belonged to Sora. "They might've just thrown it with all the other baggage on the plane, so it might show up here," he said, his voice hesitant.

Two pairs of green eyes bore into him. For a moment, the airport lost all sound, and there was just Sora and Axel and Larxene. _Maybe I should've kept quiet, _Sora thought.

Then Axel smiled. "Well, that makes sense, I guess." The sound came back, and the enormous pressure faded. Roxas turned and forced himself to smile, too. "Yeah, thanks Sora."

Sora smiled at Roxas but said nothing.

"Oh," Roxas cleared his throat. "Sora, this is my cousin, Axel. Axel, my friend Sora. Met him on the plane to Miami."

"Nice to meet you," Sora said, holding out a hand.

"Likewise." Axel shook Sora's offered hand. "I hope Roxy here didn't screw you too hard," he said, letting go.

Sora held his mouth agape for a moment, then asked, flabbergasted, "_Excuse me?_"

Bewilderment flickered on Axel face, and he began to explain himself. "I meant--"

"He means," Roxas interposed, "he hopes that I didn't bother you too much." Heat began to creep into his face, and Roxas turned away to hide his embarrassment.

Sora chuckled. "Oh, no. He's cool." He liked Axel, with his flaming red hair and typical blue jeans. His shirt had a blue flame illustrated on it, and he wore black boots. Short of that, he looked perfectly normal. Except...

"Where'd the teardrops come from?" Sora couldn't help but ask, hoping he didn't offend. They were tattooed, Sora guessed, into his skin, just below his eyes.

Axel laughed. "Everyone asks me that. Don't worry about it." He ran a finger over each of them, as if making sure they were both there.

"Here comes the baggage," Larxene observed. Then she started a bit, pulled out her cell phone that was vibrating violently, and answered it. "Hey Bubbles! Yeah, I'm still at the airport..." She pointed to Axel and Roxas, then at the ground, mouthing 'Stay here!' Then she walked towards the exit, stopping just inside the door.

"I swear, she acts like she can't function without that boy," Axel said absentmindedly.

"Well, that's Larx for ya. At least she's happy."

Axel shot Roxas an inquiring look. "I'm surprised to hear that, coming from you."

Roxas stepped towards the moving belt, which tugged along a few cases of luggage and someone's hideously hot pink suitcase. "Why?" He asked over his shoulder.

"Well, considering what she just said to you..." Axel stepped forward and stood beside Roxas, not looking at him but watching the luggage appear. "...I'd be pretty mad."

Sora came up on Roxas's left. "You sure you're okay?" He asked, concern knotting his voice.

"Guys, I'm fine. Relax." Roxas said. "But thanks though."

Axel pulled on a few strands of his red hair that fell barely past his shoulders. He glanced over at them, Sora on the other side of Roxas, noticing the similarity between them. He considered saying something, but decided not to. Then Roxas's face lit up.

"There it is!" He exclaimed, pointing. A black duffle bag was rolling toward them, slowly making its way down the line. In his glee, he hugged Sora, smiling wide, before grabbing the bag and setting it down beside him. He had no doubt in his mind that it was his, and he didn't bother to check and make sure.

After a minute, Sora's suitcase came through, which he hefted off of the moving belt. Then, Roxas's two suitcases came, one large, one slightly smaller. Axel pulled off the larger one, and helped Roxas with the other.

"Now then," Axel said as he tried to wave to Larxene to tell her that they were ready to leave, but she was caught up in her phone conversation. "I swear, that girl is clueless," he said with a sigh.

Chuckling, Roxas sat down and pulled the duffle bag beside him. He pulled on the zipper and stuck his binder into it. A green bundle caught his eye. He pulled the zipper farther, and opened the bag completely.

There, supporting his binder, were multiple bundles of one hundred dollar bills.

It took a moment for the situation to register in Roxas's mind. When it did, he immediately closed it, his eyes wide, and pulled it into his lap.

"What's wrong with you?" Axel raised an eyebrow to him.

"This isn't my bag," Roxas replied simply.

"What do you mean?"

"This _isn't _my bag," he said again.

"Well, whose is it?" This question came from Sora.

Roxas shook his head.

"_What's _in it?"

Roxas looked at him sharply. He was hesitant to answer, but it found its way out of his mouth anyway. "Money."

"Money? How much?"

Roxas shook his head again. "I don't know. A lot."

"Let me see," Axel said and stood over him. Reluctantly, Roxas opened the bag some and allowed Axel a peek. "Shit..."

Sora took from Axel and Roxas's faces that it seriously was a lot of money. He looked himself. "Whoa..."

A moment of awe passed between the three. Then:

"What do we do with all of this?"

The question was a fair one, and it sparked few answers.

"Well, the obvious answer is that we could use it. Split it up between ourselves and use it," Sora suggested, a faint smile dancing across his lips.

"We could burn it all," Axel put in thoughtfully. "That way we don't have any evidence to prove that we ever had it."

"You say that like we're guilty of something. We should give it to the police," Roxas said.

Axel and Sora looked at the blonde.

"No way."

"Chea, right."

"Why not?" Roxas asked. "It could all be counterfeit. It could be covered in drugs. It could be on its way to some fund for children with cancer, and here we are, arguing over what to do with it. We're giving it to the police."

He stood up, zipped the bag closed, and pulled the strap onto his shoulder. "We're giving it to the police," he said again, this time with more finality in his voice.

Axel shrugged. "Fine, but burning it would be more fun..."

Sora, frowning, said nothing.

Larxene, pushing her phone back into her pocket, walked over. "You guys comin' or what?" She asked. Axel went back to tugging his hair, and Sora suddenly took interest in the ceiling.

"Okay then. I'm leaving in five minutes. No more, quite possibly less." With that, Larxene turned and began making her way to her car. She didn't look back.

"I guess this is it then," Sora said.

"I guess so." Roxas was reluctant to admit.

"Here, give me your arm," Sora told him. Pulling a black pen out of his pocket, he scribbled a phone number onto Roxas's arm.

"There," he said when he'd finished. He put the pen back in his pocket, then added, "You'd better call, too."

Roxas laughed. "I will, I will."

Axel pulled on the handle at the top of Roxas's largest suitcase, setting it on its wheels. He watched as Roxas and Sora said their goodbyes. They hugged, and they let go. He noticed how Roxas's hand reached out for Sora slightly and smiled.

_Roxas, you dog. You've been busy, haven't you?_

The duffle bag slung over one shoulder, Roxas pulled on his other suitcase with his other hand. Axel was grinning as he led them out of the airport.

"What are you smiling about?" Roxas asked as he followed Axel towards the ground level parking area.

Axel only glanced at his cousin, causing him to grin even more.

"What?" Roxas demanded.

Axel looked at him, green eyes full of knowledge. "You like him, don't you?" He asked, still walking.

Roxas stopped walking and blinked. "No! What are you talking about?" He asked.

Axel laughed, and Roxas stared daggers into his back. "You know what I'm talking about," Axel shouted over his shoulder.

Roxas rushed to catch up, mumbling. "You know, I hate it when you do that," he said.

Axel smiled. "I know."

They waited for a car to go by, then crossed to a line of waiting cars. "At least he was cute," Axel said casually.

Roxas clicked his tongue but said nothing. Axel smiled back at him. "See? I knew you wouldn't disagree."

* * *

Well, that turned out to be a bit longer than expected. Oh well. Thanks for reading! Next chapter coming soon (if reality doesn't screw me over like it usually does)!****


	5. School?

Definite Good news and potential bad news…

Good news: At long last, I've finished Chapter 5.

Bad news: Father told me that next time I screw up, I'll lose all the privileges whatsoever and he'll sell all of my entertainment stuff on eBay. Including my iPod and this computer. I didn't doubt it for a second (he's that kind of person), so it took me a while to shed my last personality and grow a new one. Had to tweak it a bit, so I hope it works. I can't risk another failure with this façade. For the sake of reality and the continuation of this story, I cannot fail.

Ahh, I have Drama this semester. It's already getting to me.

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, nor its characters; someone rich and brilliant does. I don't own MXC either.

* * *

_Leave it to Larxene to bring the corvette_, he thought, sighing inwardly.

Lacking the trunk space to fit both of his suitcases there, Roxas was forced to sit in the back seat, holding on to the smaller half of his luggage.

Larxene had just flashed a false smile and told him to, "Get in already." Then she put on her sunglasses, put down the roof, and went into what Axel called her 'Sexy driver mode'.

Roxas was sure to put his seatbelt on. He tried to put the other seatbelt around the suitcase, but it wouldn't fit. Frowning, he held on to the handle with an iron grip, hoping against hope that they wouldn't hit a pothole.

* * *

Roxas could see why Axel called it 'Sexy driver mode.'

Larxene's flaxen hair reached and danced in all directions, blown wildly by the wind. Her sunglasses painfully reflected the sun, much to the annoyance of anyone in front of them unfortunate enough to check their rearview mirror. She held the steering wheel in the typical 10-and-2 o' clock position, checked her mirrors regularly, but...

"Damn, Larx! Would you slow down when you turn? You're gonna get us all killed!" Roxas leaned forward to be heard over the combined roar of Axel's music and the wind rushing past his ears.

"Do _you _have your license?" Larxene shouted back at him. Roxas growled and sat back, glaring at her from the passenger side of the back seat. The bag of money was sitting on his feet, out of the wind and out of sight.

The rest of the trip was similar, until they were nearly home. Larxene pulled up behind a red Nissan Altima, waiting for the light to turn green. Roxas glanced left, and there, in the passenger seat of a black Expedition in the turning lane, was a boy. His skin was brown, and his eyes were wide and staring straight ahead. Roxas looked forward, then glanced back at him again. He hadn't moved at all.

Roxas found himself staring. _Is this dude real? _He found himself asking. Then the boy turned his head, slowly, and looked at Roxas. His face was expressionless, and his eyes were black and empty. Roxas recoiled slightly, and the boy smiled, just a little. He turned his head to the side, a curious expression appearing, then he was gone.

Roxas looked up at the traffic lights. A green arrow for the lane to his left gazed back at him.

"Well, that was...odd," he said aloud, wondering who that was.

"What was odd?" Axel called over his music.

"Nothing," he replied, swearing under his breath. Whenever he assumed Axel wasn't even paying attention to him, lost in one of his heavy metal **(A/N: Yes, Axel is a rocker. He always was, at heart. Well...when he had one.)**, he somehow ended up commenting on something Roxas mumbled absently. He never complained, though. _At least that means that _one _cousin gives a crap. _He smiled at his reference to Larxene's shirt.

Finally, after quite a few turns and passage through a set of community gates, Larxene pulled her corvette into the driveway. Roxas's new abode wasn't huge, but it wasn't small either. It was a two-story building, painted a dulled pink colour. "The colour of raw salmon," Axel had said once. Roxas had agreed. A white two-car garage stood below two bedroom windows, while a tiled brown path to the right of the garage lead to the front door. Two palm trees swayed slightly in the barely existent wind on the right side of the driveway.

"Welcome home!" Axel declared as he turned the volume down and Larxene turned off the car. She got out of the driver's seat, without giving acknowledgement to either of them, and walked to the front door. Sticking one of the keys into the lock, she turned it and opened the door, entered the house, and closed the door behind her.

When she had disappeared from his sight, Roxas opened the door and got out. He clutched the straps of the money bag tightly.

"If you really want to, we'll go tomorrow. We'll have to walk, though. Larx is going out with her boyfriend tomorrow, and I can't drive," Axel said, shrugging. He walked to the driver's side of the car, opened the door, and bent down a pressed a button near the wheel. The trunk popped open.

Standing up, he asked, "If you get the money back, what are you gonna do with it?"

Roxas looked over at him. "Well...I doubt I'll actually get it back anyway, so it doesn't really matter," he answered. Roxas looked up and down the street, a long strip of black that wound to a back entrance to the left, and the front entrance and golf course to the right. He sighed.

Axel closed the driver door and opened the trunk. Pulling out Roxas's suitcase, he asked, "Are you gonna just stand there and watch the asphalt age, or are you gonna get your crap. I don't know about you, but it's hot out here to me." With a grunt, he set the suitcase lightly onto the driveway. Spinning it around and setting it on its wheels, he started toward the door.

"Oh, uh...yeah." Roxas pulled his suitcase out of the backseat and slammed the car door. He followed Axel into the house, pausing at the door before walking in.

_Welcome home, _he thought grimly.

_

* * *

_

Roxas sat on the floor, sorting through the various clothes he had brought with him to wear until his few possessions came. He'd made a few stacks of neatly folded clothes on one side of him. On the other was a heap of clothes waiting to cross over.

The room that was now his own was simple: a full bed in one corner, opposite the window, its decorated comforter matching the forest green walls. At the foot of the bed was a dresser, and a walk-in closet hid behind a beige slide-fold door adjacent to the door that led out to the hall. An elegant fan hung from the ceiling, sporting three light bulbs with decorative glass covers.

The blonde glanced over at the black bag peeking out from under the bed. "I would say that you're more trouble than you're worth, but $200,000 is a lot," he told it.

The bag failed to reply.

He sighed. "I can't believe I sat here and counted all that money. You'd better not be covered in minute drug particles, because I want you back."

Again, the bag said nothing.

Roxas groaned at the ceiling. "Gods, I'm talking to a _bag._" _Yes, but it's a bag filled with money, _a part of him said in response.

He rolled his eyes. "Let's go find Axel."

He pushed a stray sock off of his knee and stood, frowning slightly at the wrinkles in his pants. Stepping out into the small hall, he glanced both ways before heading down the stairs. On the left was Axel's room and the bathroom; on the right was Larxene's room, which was also the master bedroom.

Axel was in the living room, watching MXC. Roxas walked up to the brownish sectional and leaned on it, elbows indenting the cushion slightly. Axel nodded to him. "This," he said, turning his head toward the television, "Is what we're gonna have to deal with in our generation. Shame, isn't it?"

Roxas smiled and nodded.

"There's ice cream in the freezer, if you want any." Axel glanced at the crystal clock that hung above the TV. "...or we can have dinner." Axel turned his attention back to the television. A few minutes passed, Axel laughing and commenting on the contestants' lack of agility, Roxas trying to figure out why someone would waste their time trying to hang on to a log rolling down an incline.

Finally, a commercial came on. Roxas took the opportunity to ask a question. "Hey Axel, why don't your parents have a room here?"

Axel stood and stretched, then turned around and replied simply, "Because they don't live here."

"Why not?"

"Usually, they show up for special stuff, like Christmas or birthdays or whatever. Other than that, dad's always out on business trips, and mom's always with him. We can get on by ourselves though," Axel answered. "They send us money every two weeks, and they pay the rent and all. We just have to stay alive."

"So all those times mom and dad and I came to visit..."

"They left virtually when you did." Axel nodded.

"Wow."

"Yup. Which reminds me..." Axel turned around and picked up a blue folder that was lying on the glass coffee table. Then he offered it to Roxas. "All your stuff. You've already been registered for school, your schedule's in there, and I took the liberty of going ahead and buying your school clothes. I still have that pair of pants you left here last time you visited, so I just got a few pairs of khaki's two sizes bigger..." His voice trailed off at Roxas's dazed look. "You okay?"

Roxas took the folder and began leafing through the pages in it. "Registered for school?"

"Uh huh."

"When exactly does school _start_?"

"On Tuesday."

"Today's Friday."

"I know. Isn't it great?"

Roxas blinked at him, frowning. "Wondrous."

"Yeah...sorry about the whole short-notice thing, but you'll like it." He paused. "Wait, do you speak Spanish?"

"No..."

Axel grunted. "Well, this may be a bit difficult. You can take a joke, right?"

"Yeah..."

"Good. I suggest you get very familiar with the term _gringo._"

Roxas's eyebrows pulled towards each other, trying to make sense of Axel's words. "Gringo?" He repeated. "You're telling me that everyone's gonna--"

"Clown you like gringo that you are? Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying. "

"Hey, you're not Hispanic and you don't speak Spanish either," Roxas pointed out.

"No, but I've already got my friends and a reputation. You...you're my cousin. No one'll mess with you too much." He smiled, slyness curving the edges of his lips.

Axel made his way into the kitchen and began to rummage though the refrigerator.

"What's it like?" Roxas asked, closing the folder and holding it protectively with both hands.

"Ehh... Jefferson is...okay, I guess," Axel replied, holding a bag of french fries up triumphantly. "You like 'em baked?"

Roxas shrugged. "Sure."

Axel pulled a glass dish out from one of the white cabinets that lined the kitchen walls and pressed the buttons on the oven to preheat it. "As I was saying," he said as he poured the french fries onto the glass dish. "It's okay. Pretty average. Principle Sanchez is seriously strict, but we get good FCAT scores because of it."

"FCAT? What the heck is that?"

"The Florida version of EoCs **(1)**. That same end-of-the-year test in math, reading and writing that everyone has to take and pass."

"Is it easy?" Roxas asked.

"For me? Yes. For you? Maybe."

"What're you trying to say?" Roxas pulled out one of four chairs from the table that stood on the other side of the kitchen sink opposite Axel in the kitchen proper.

"Nothing. I just know my strengths, not yours."

"Huh."

"But other than that...well, the school has some pretty odd people. Not to be avoided, but odd nonetheless. Like Demyx, who just sits in the courtyard in the mornings, playing his giant guitar-thing, and Za'afiel, who usually sings with the music. I gotta admit, though: the dude can sing. But still, you have people like Maria, who's practically insane, but cool, and Alex, one of the many, and...well, you'll meet them. Eventually." Axel put the empty french fry bag in the trashcan. "It's not like you've got long to wait."

"It's like this day won't stop getting better and better!" Roxas declared with false enthusiasm.

* * *

**(1)**- End of Course, what we used to call them where I come from.

Finally, I'm finished. Yes, this was another boring chapter, but it'll pick up. Even if I have to kill someone -looks sidelong at father-

Just kidding...mostly.


	6. Za'afiel

I'm lacking a beta reader, so I apologize for any grammatical or spelling errors you may come across. Other than that, no prelude to bore you with, so...

**Disclaimer**: I own neither Kingdom Hearts, nor its characters. I do own Za'afiel, though. I do not own Pop-Tarts, though I wish I did.

* * *

Roxas's eyes snapped open and looked over at the alarm clock that hummed quietly as it shined its dull green characters through the darkness of the room.

5:03 AM.

He tried to go back to sleep, and managed to doze for a while, but then woke up again.

5:47 AM.

He rolled over onto his back and looked up at the ceiling he could barely see through the darkness. Faint light ghosted from the window and spread itself thinly across the ceiling from a passing car as Roxas recounted the weekend.

The trip to the police station was uneventful. After a nearly six-mile walk, Axel and Roxas arrived at the police station. The policeman (Roxas was inwardly thankful that he had a face, no matter how uncaring it was) seemed completely uninterested. All he did was take Roxas's name, address, and other such personal information, then took the bag of $200,000 and saw the boys out.

The rest of the day had been a dull blur, as was Sunday. Monday, Larxene had taken them all to Wal-mart, which was painfully overcrowded. Although he had tried to stop him, Axel had proceeded to buying Roxas an alarm clock and a new pair of white-and-grey running shoes, among numerous other school gear. "Because I'm sure you'll need them," he'd said.

Roxas yawned and got out of bed, deciding to start getting ready for school in hopes that it would quell the rising sense of nervous anticipation. He walked and flicked the switch that was about shoulder-level, mounted on the wall beside the door. Light exploded in the room, forcing Roxas's eyes shut again. He stood there, hand against the wall, gradually opening his eyes to allow them to adjust. The task complete, he opened his room door.

The light allowed Roxas to see his way to the bathroom. Once there, he turned on the light, and the fan came on automatically with it. Closing the door, he turned and stared at himself in the mirror. His reflection smiled and said, "You'd better get ready for school." **(1)**

Roxas then frowned. "Bleh, school," he said to no one.

He moved to the shower and pulled the handle to turn on the water, allowing it time to warm up. Then he peeled off his plain T-shirt and blue basketball shorts and stepped into the shower.

The water was perfection warm. Roxas slowly turned a circle, letting the water run over his pale skin in a race of gravity. He closed his eyes as he turned, enjoying the placidity of the moment. His hair was forced into wet submission; its blonde strands dangling loosely and in groups as droplets and streams of water shot down them.

He stopped turning and tipped his head upward, letting the water run down his face, his neck, his chest. His mind went back to the past few months, and the water pulled with them tears that weren't there before.

_Why'd you have to go?_

* * *

Roxas sighed and ran a hand over his face one more time. Then he emerged from the shower, a red towel around his waist. Axel was just coming out of his room, his flaming hair stretching in all directions.

"Wow. You look like a lion on fire," Roxas told him.

"And you look like a near-naked joker," Axel retorted, smiling.

Roxas grunted and went into his room, closing his door. Beyond it, he heard the bathroom door close as Axel began his morning routine.

Roxas looked around the room for a moment, the light still on from when he'd left it before taking a shower. He blinked, then opened the closet where he'd put all of his clothes. On the shelf that lined the top of the closet were all of the clothes from his suitcases. Hanging from the bars directly below the shelf was three sets of khaki pants and polo shirts. Two were navy blue, one was forest green, each with an identical Jefferson High School logo. Roxas grabbed one of the pants off of its hanger and a blue shirt and threw them both onto the bed.

He got dressed in silence, folding his red towel neatly after reluctantly pulling on his uniform. He glanced at the alarm clock.

6:07 AM.

Grimacing at the time, Roxas pulled on a pair of socks and headed downstairs. It was dark, but the rising summer sun was beginning to throw odd rays of light into the house. Roxas padded across the tiled floor to the kitchen, then opened a cabinet. **(A/N Isn't is sexy when guys pad? Inside joke, but I just couldn't leave it alone.)** Luckily, the box of Strawberry Pop-Tarts he'd spied there yesterday were still sitting on the bottom shelf.

He grabbed a package out of the box and tore it open, then pulled the toaster on the counter towards him. Putting the two Pop-Tarts into the toaster, he pulled the lever down and waited.

Seconds passed. Roxas leaned against the counter and sighed. The stairway light came on, and Roxas looked around the corner to see who was coming.

It was Larxene.

Even this early, she was already completely dressed. Book bag slung across one shoulder, she walked into the kitchen, taking no notice of Roxas, and grabbed a green apple out of the refrigerator and her keys off of the counter nearby.

Roxas didn't bother saying "Good morning" or anything. He just stood there and watched her, a hint of anger building inside of him. She stopped before she left the kitchen and said, "You know, it wouldn't kill you to turn on the lights."

Roxas shrugged. Larxene proceeded to the door, then turned around and looked at Roxas. "Listen, kid. At school, we don't know each other. This is my last year in high school, and I'm not going to have you go around, screwing it up, okay?"

Roxas nodded in quiet disbelief.

"Good." Larxene turned around and unlocked the door.

"Wait, you're not taking us?" Roxas asked innocently.

Larxene scoffed. "Of course not. You two take the bus. I meet up with Bubbles before school," she responded. With that, she stepped through the doorway and closed the door. Roxas heard her lock the door before he went back to leaning on the counter, wondering where she got all of her narcissism.

Then Axel came in the kitchen. "Did Larx already leave?" He asked.

"Yeah."

"Huh," Axel said. He pulled out coffee grinds from a cabinet and began making coffee, an art Roxas had never bothered to even pay attention to.

"So, you ready for school, sophomore?" Axel asked, just as the toaster released the Pop-Tarts. Roxas grabbed a paper towel and took them out of the toaster and laying them onto the paper towel. He took his breakfast to the large window that surveyed the backyard.

"Yeah, I guess."

Axel chuckled. Roxas munched on a Pop-Tart as Axel finished setting the coffeemaker up and it began to brew.

"Well, the only real advice I could give you is this: Don't mess with Larxene. It's sad, really, but seriously, don't screw with her. Got it memorized?"

"Yeah." Roxas nodded.

"Good." Axel began to walk towards the stairs.

"Aren't you going to eat breakfast?"

"Yeah, but I eat at school. It's free there."

* * *

Soon, Axel and Roxas finished preparing for school. Axel lead Roxas up the street towards the bus stop, which was about a quarter of a mile from their house.

After a minute of walking in silence, Roxas couldn't help but ask, "Axel, why are you taking _two _coffee mugs to school?"

Axel laughed. "One's for me, of course. The other's for Z."

"Z?"

"Za'afiel."

"Oh yeah, the singing one, right?"

"Yeah." Axel paused as they came upon the bus. "Remember, you're on bus 2019. Don't forget that, or you're screwed. And you'd best believe that Larx isn't coming back to school to get you."

"I know, I know. Bus number 2019. I'm not _that _forgetful," Roxas answered.

"Well then," Axel said and boarded the bus through its open doors. Roxas followed him.

The bus driver was a short man, but he seemed friendly. He smiled at Roxas and said, "Hello," his voice thick with accent.

Roxas simply smiled back at him, then surveyed the bus. There was only one person on it, save him and Axel. Roxas couldn't believe his eyes. It was the black guy from the Expedition.

"Z!" Axel exclaimed. Z stood up and took hold of Axel's hand, grinning. When they let go, Axel asked, "When did you move here?"

Za'afiel had a resonant voice that seemed to tread the line between soft and deep. "Only a few weeks ago. Father decided it was time to relocate, giving me an renewed hatred for moving," he answered, smiling.

Axel laughed and sat down in the seat opposite his friend, and Roxas sat down in the seat in front of Axel, the second one on the right side.

"Oh, this is Roxas, my cousin. He's living with us now." Axel introduced.

Za'afiel looked at Roxas, and gave him a knowing smile. "Ahh, you."

"You." Roxas responded. Za'afiel chuckled, then introduced himself. "Well, I'm Za'afiel, odd name, I know, but most people just call me Z. You can too. I...despise idiotic people, because they waste my time, and I'm pretty much mean towards everyone, because the world isn't nice, so why should I be? Either way, you look capable enough, so I'll be nice to you." He said the paragraph like it had been rehearsed, and held out his hand afterwards.

Roxas took his hand and shook it, eyeing him warily. His black hair was cut militarily short, evenly less than half an inch long. His ears were slightly pointed at their tips, and his lips seemed to always be curved into a secretive smile. Roxas managed to let out a shy, "Hi."

This made Za'afiel chuckle. "A man of few words, eh? Oh, by the way, you have hot hair. I know it's a bit odd for a guy to tell another guy that, but seriously, you do. You're cousin too. And I'm stuck with this hairlessness..." He let out a fake sob.

Axel laughed. He liked Za'afiel, and the way he always had something funny to say. Conversely, Roxas only smiled. He wasn't sure what to make of this new acquaintance, but he seemed nice enough. _Very open-minded too. _

"Oh yeah, here." Axel offered the scarlet coffee mug to Za'afiel. He took it, and immediately drank from it. When he took it from his lips, his smile was wider than ever.

"Sweet caffeine and sugar, how I've missed thee," Z said to the coffee. The he looked at Axel. "You're a saint, I swear."

Axel just smiled and said, "I know, I know."

Three other people got on the bus that Roxas's stop; one freshman who didn't seem like he wanted to talk, even with Za'afiel's persistence, and two siblings who sat in the first seat directly behind the bus driver. Za'afiel didn't even bother trying to talk to them; they were too busy talking to each other.

Finally, the bus started up and pulled off to go to school. Roxas looked out the window, watching the houses and palm trees pass by. Eventually, someone called his name.

It was Za'afiel.

"So you're a sophomore too, right?

"Yeah."

"Can I see your schedule?"

"Sure," Roxas said, pulling out the folded piece of paper in his left pocket. Unfolding it, he handed it to Za'afiel, who scanned over it quickly.

He grunted. "Well, on A days, we've got Biology first period and Latin seventh period together, and on B days we've got P.F. second period and Health Science eighth period together." He handed the schedule back to Roxas. "So I see you the first and last period of every day. Wondrous." Za'afiel said with a smile.

"Huh." Roxas looked over it as if verifying Z's words. "Well, at least I know who to follow at the beginning and end of the day," Roxas said aloud, talking to himself.

Za'afiel laughed. "True." He turned his head to the window. Roxas looked too.

The bus was moving towards a huge, three-storey white building that seemed to be in the shape of a giant blocky U. On one side of the building, a large shark had been painted, swimming through the words ' Jefferson High School' circling around it.

Za'afiel sighed. "Ahh, here we go. Jefferson High, here we come."

* * *

**(1)**- This is_ completely _metaphoric. No, Roxas isn't a paranoid schizophrenic like me, and no, he doesn't have an alternate personality that reveals itself in his every reflection. Interesting idea, though. If you ever use that plot, don't. IT'S MINE!!! -insert loud, echoing evil laugh here-

**_Reviews_**, anyone? Tell your friends! Tell your neighbours! Whoever! Suggestions welcome!


	7. Celestial Song and Accidental Truth

At long last, things are turning back to abnormal. They won't stay this way for long (At least, they _usually _don't, but this is most likely no exception), but in the meantime...I write again! I had a horrible case of writer's block, but now I am fine. I hope. Anyway, I feel I've distracted you for long enough. First, though:

Special thanks to xWhisperWolfx, an angelic writer whose inspiring words have...well, inspired me to get back to writing. And yes, I've officially dubbed the adjective 'angelic' to you and you alone.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of its characters.

I typed this all in Word, so I hope that the serifs in the quotations won't cack the whole thing up. Now, I give you:

* * *

**Chapter 7: Celestial Song and Accidental Truth **

Za'afiel stepped of the bus and inhaled deeply, half empty coffee mug in hand. He let it out, then announced absently, "Smells like apprehension. With a touch of fear."

Roxas stepped down and stood beside him, looking at the white walls of the building. "You can smell fear?" He asked.

"Of course," Za'afiel replied, seemingly surprised at the question. "Can't you?"

Roxas's eyebrows furrowed in question and slight annoyance. _What's with this guy? Is he serious or...? _

Axel came up behind him and clasped his shoulder. "You ready?"

Roxas rolled his eyes. "It's only school. It's not like I haven't done this before."

Za'afiel took a sip of his coffee and failed to comment, instead beginning to walk towards the side entrance to the school. Axel followed, and Roxas pulled up the rear.

"Hey Z?"

"Hmm?" Za'afiel asked, mouth full of coffee.

"Is Demy here?"

The ebony boy forced a swallow and immediately grinned. "Nope. I talked to him before I moved, and he said he'd be back from Iowa by next week. But don't worry, Axel. Your boyfriend will come back to you soon enough." He laughed, his shoulders moving slightly against the weight of his black and grey bookbag.

Axel's eyes widened, but he smiled. "Shut up, you."

Za'afiel laughed as they passed through the black iron doors that looked more like a fortified fence than anything to Roxas. Beyond was the courtyard, where an arrangement of trees and other foliage had been assembled around outdoor cafeteria tables. In the center of the courtyard was a large oak, strong and quite full of life. All around the courtyard were students.

"You tell me to shut up, but you don't deny your love. How cute," Za'afiel pointed out, a smug smile settling on his face.

Axel groaned loudly. "You're insane, you know that?"

"I'm not insane, I'm a lunatic. Get it right."

"You and Saïx with that moon thing. You two are weird...speaking of which, where _is _Saïx?" Axel asked, attempting to steer the conversation away from himself.

Za'afiel's smile faded a bit. Roxas noticed. "He moved...to Vermont."

" Vermont?" Roxas inquired.

"Chea, because reality couldn't choose a more random place for him to go." His voice trailed off, and he muttered to himself, "I hope he can see Luna there."

A moment of silence passed between the three. Then Za'afiel asked, "So, Roxas is it?" Roxas nodded. "Would you like a tour before school starts?" He lead the other two vaguely towards a set of stairwells, one of two of either side of the inside of the U shaped building.

Roxas shrugged. "Sure."

"Axel?"

"No, actually. I gotta go find my other friends and all. You know."

"Yeah, yeah. Later, Mr. Popular." Za'afiel started up the concrete stairs.

Axel grabbed Roxas's shoulder before he could follow. "Here," he said as he handed Roxas a 20 dollar bill. "For lunch."

"Thanks."

Axel turned.

"Wait," Roxas lowered his voice and glanced up at Za'afiel, who was taking his time getting up the stairs. "What about, umm, Z?"

Axel smiled. "What about him? I know, he's odd, but he's cool. Stop worrying, it's not like he's a serial killer."

"Yeah, but..."

Axel shook his head. "Just calm down and try not to get lost, okay?" He turned and headed towards a group of people who were sitting about one of the tables. Roxas watched him for a moment, then hurried up the stairs in pursuit of Za'afiel.

* * *

Roxas soon understood the layout of the school. On one side of the U was the low numbers, the first number of the room indicating which floor it occupied. On the other side was the high numbers, and across the top of the U, from a bird's-eye view, was the building with the gym on the left side, the music and cooking rooms on the right, and the cafeteria in the middle. Behind that were the softball, baseball, and football fields, and the basketball and tennis courts.

Za'afiel smiled at Roxas as they stood outside Ms. Phalange's door, waiting for her to open it.

"Ms. Phalange? Seriously?" Roxas asked Za'afiel, not quite believing it.

"Yup." Za'afiel nodded.

"As in," his wiggled his fingers around in front of himself. "Phalange?"

Za'afiel laughed and nodded again. "Same spelling and everything."

"Okay then..." Then Roxas asked why Za'afiel had knocked on the door instead of just opening it. Z explained.

"Her door is practically always locked, unless she's not here. I don't even bother trying to open it anymore."

Roxas blinked.

"Yeah, it didn't make much sense to me either, but hey, what can you do, right? You can try it if you want." He performed a sort of half-shrug.

Curiosity getting the best of him, Roxas tried the silver handle. It turned, but did not open, just as Za'afiel had said.

Za'afiel chuckled. "Normally, I'd say I told you so, but that would be impolite."

Roxas pondered the statement for a moment, then he heard heels clicking against the floor on the other side of the door. A second later, the door opened, revealing a woman with brown hair and equally brown eyes. Her hair was pulled back into a loose bun, allowing her ears to show off their black spiral earrings. She wore a black shirt under a white over-shirt, with grey plaid pants and black heels.

"Good morning!" Za'afiel exclaimed delightedly.

"Oh, hey Za'afiel!" Ms. Phalange replied, her smile revealing a perfect set of white teeth. She let go of the door and began walking towards her desk near the back of the room. Za'afiel took hold of the door and ushered Roxas in.

The first thing Roxas noticed was the smell. Or rather, the lack of smell. It didn't smell like _anything. _

Occupying the room were black lab tables that were arranged into two rows of eight. Each table stood over two chairs which were all facing towards the dry-erase board at the front of the room. To the right of the tables were two rooms: one which served as an office, and another, bigger than the first, in which a multitude of identical computers lined the walls.

On the other side of the classroom were two hospital beds and related equipment. In one bed was a dummy with a wig and sunglasses. It wore a blue sweat suit, the shirt of which proclaiming in white letters 'Grandma Chase'.

Za'afiel put his bookbag down on the first table, and Roxas hesitantly followed suit.

"So…" Za'afiel began when Ms. Phalange had sat down at her computer in the back of the room. "…what did you do over the vaca—?"

His question was cut off by the earsplitting sound of a bell ringing over the intercom. When it faded, leaving Roxas's ears still ringing, Za'afiel sighed. "Well, let the fun begin."

* * *

The day dragged on. After sitting through the last hour and a half in Latin, the teacher of which Roxas found more than a little eccentric, the silence-shattering bell signaled the end of school. Sighing, Roxas stood and followed Za'afiel out of the classroom, not without hearing Ms. Cabral say "_Adios, bacalao," _to him. He smiled and waved at her momentarily.

"_Adios bacalao_?" Roxas asked and the descended the stairs, making their way to the bus area. He made a mental note to never again speak a word of Spanish: he didn't have the accent for it.

Conversely, Za'afiel's tongue seemed to be perfectly adapted to it. "_Bacalao_ means codfish. I don't remember when she started calling me that, but it stuck." He shrugged.

"Uh huh," Roxas replied, nodding and regarding the other boy with a strange look.

"What? Don't tell me that being called a codfish isn't a good thing," he said, playfully sarcastic.

"Well, it's not a compliment..."

Za'afiel laughed lightly. "Don't worry, _fuego rubio_, I think I can live with it."

"Umm…what?"

Za'afiel laughed again. "Nevermind."

Roxas opened his mouth to reply, but then thought better of it.

They made their way to the bus, Roxas making sure that they were on bus 2019, and sat down. There were more people on the bus than there had been this morning, and Julio, the bus driver, announced that there were two stops on the route home now.

Axel had already boarded the bus. "So how was it?" he asked when they'd taken a seat.

"Fine," Roxas and Za'afiel replied in unison. Za'afiel chuckled.

"Well, that wasn't awkward."

Roxas smiled, agreeing. Silence descended as Julio started up the vehicle and began driving away from the school parking lot to his first stop.

Axel ran a hand through his fire-red hair, then said, "Hey, Z?"

"Yeah?"

"Will you sing for me?" Axel said, scratching his ear. Roxas smiled, knowing he only did that when he was shy about something.

"Somehow I knew you'd ask. Sure, I'll sing, but what?" He asked, shrugging. His dark eyes reflected the light from the windows; Roxas couldn't see his pupils at all.

"Surprise me."

Za'afiel smiled, took a deep breath, and sang.

"When you walk away,  
You don't hear me say:  
'Please, oh baby, don't go.'  
Simple and clean is the way that you're making me feel tonight  
It's hard to let it go."

His voice was beautiful. The notes and words blended together in seamless harmony, playing elegantly upon the melody. Roxas was entranced, surprised by a sound he could not describe as anything short of…what? Wonderful? Amazing?

While Roxas scoured his mind for an adjective, Za'afiel continued:

"You're giving me too many things  
Lately you're all I need  
You smiled at me and said,

Don't get me wrong I love you  
But does that mean I have to meet your father?  
When we are older you'll understand  
What I meant when I said 'No,  
I don't think life is quite that simple'"

_Celestial_, Roxas finally provided. _Yes, Z's voice was celestial_.

"When you walk away,  
You don't hear me say:  
'Please, oh baby, don't go.'  
Simple and clean is the way that you're making me feel tonight  
It's hard to let it go."

Za'afiel stopped singing just as Julio pulled the bus to its first stop. A few people smiled and spoke a few admiring words before as they passed the boy with the celestial voice. He, Axel, and Roxas were the only ones left on the bus.

When Julio started the drive to the second and final stop, Za'afiel turned to Axel.

"How was that?" he asked.

Axel smiled. "You definitely haven't lost it, that's for sure. What do you think, Roxas?"

Roxas blinked. "Oh! Umm...it was great."

Z nodded. "Thanks."

"Where did you learn that song?" Roxas felt a little sheepish in asking, and redness crept into his cheeks.

Za'afiel thought about it for a moment, then answered, "I...really don't remember. It might've been my mom, I guess."

A moment of realization hit Roxas. "_That's _who it was!" he exclaimed, momentarily forgetting his surroundings.

Za'afiel blinked, confused. "It was my mom?" he asked, puzzled. Axel went into a fit of laughter, the reversed teardrops beneath his eyes losing themselves in laugh lines.

Roxas realized his mistake. "No! Sorry, was thinking about something else. A friend of mine was humming that song after...nevermind. Just, Sora was humming it, but when I asked him what song it was, he said he didn't know."

"Oh, my bad."

Axel didn't let it go so easily.

"Sora, eh? How _is _he doing?" he asked, obviously suggestive.

Roxas rolled his eyes. "I wouldn't know; I haven't called him yet."

"Still? It's been a while now."

"It's been what? A couple of days? Damn, give me some room; just because we go at it one time doesn't mean—" He instantly shut up.

Axel stared at him, wide eyed and mouth agape. A few seconds passed, and finally he stated slowly, "You didn't."

Roxas sighed heavily and closed his eyes, mentally cursing his big mouth.

"You _did! _Oh my gods, you did! I can't believe this! Oh shit, he did it. He did it. Ooh shit..." Axel went about this way for a few minutes. Roxas groaned.

Finally, Julio entered their neighborhood and made his way down the long road to the bus stop.

Axel still wouldn't stop. Roxas, hating every minute of it, looked over at Za'afiel. Z was watching Axel flip out, shaking his head but smiling. Then he glanced at Roxas. Their eyes met, and Roxas forced himself to speak up. "Umm..."

Za'afiel raised an eyebrow.

"...I'd really appreciate it if this didn't leave the bus." Roxas attempted a half-smile.

Another awkward moment passed between them, Axel's repeating "Oh shit...oh shit..." making up the background. Finally, Za'afiel nodded.

"Of course. Reputation is practically everything here," he said with a wink. In a slightly lower voice, he asked, "Was he cute?"

Roxas couldn't help but grin. "Yeah," he replied, embarrassment colouring his face red.

Z chuckled. The bus stopped and the door opened. Axel, who refused to stop smirking, led the other two boys off of the bus.

Julio didn't wave goodbye.

* * *

Poor thing. Oh, I nearly forgot. I've set my homepage to a LiveJournal account type thing. Check it out if you ever get the chance/want to (okay, I've only got like three posts...I'm working on it though!). 


	8. AN: Apology

I apologize. Due to current events, I cannot continue writing 'Of Friends and Money' consistently, and I felt it my duty to let you know of this. Things are...falling apart. Too many things for me to handle right now _and _successfully write a story simultaneously. I'm not completely sure on how long it'll take to fix this, or if it'll ever be fixed (and there's a pretty good chance of that). My future's at stake, let put it at that. So, again, I'm sorry. I just can't do this now.

With sincere regret,  
_Raive_


	9. AN: A Decision to Make

So, in case you haven't noticed (which you probably haven't), I'm back. Well, back-ish. I bear news:

First and foremost, I apologize for my ridiculously long absence. Again. Technically, I did give a proper forewarning, but I still feel like I let all of you down.

Secondly, if you haven't already read this on my profile (which, again, you probably haven't), I am unsure of whether or not I will continue this story. My focus tends to be rather fickle, and it seems easier for me to write oneshots than chaptered stories. For example, I just finished writing 'My Heart' in an exuberant burst of muse (well, the muse hit me like a train, actually, so I didn't have much of a choice but to write, but whatever).

So, as my profile says, I'll update in January with an official statement. Just giving a heads-up now.

Umm…in closing, and on a completely unrelated note, Happy Holidays.

~Raive


	10. AN: The End

I'm sorry, but I can't do it. I haven't the faintest clue as to where I was going with this story. I can't explain how much I want to continue to write, but to what end? What goal would I be achieving? Sometimes I think I'm losing it, but that's okay.

Again, I apologize. I'm sure anyone is getting tired of that.

~Raive


End file.
